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29 Nov 2016

Like every fashion, Lolita fashion
has changed a lot and will keep changing. From Elegant Gothic Lolita and what
we now call oldschool style, through the introduction of border prints, which
later boomed in a craze for all things OTT, all the way to current trend for
toning things down a little and lean them towards Classic – and who knows what
else we’ll see coming! Yet at the same time there are some things which remain
as instantly recognisable and iconic.

25 Nov 2016

If I’m totally honest: I don’t shop
enough with indie brands. Primarily because I’m a cheapskate and always end up
going for something from Taobao or totally offbrand, although since indie
brands usually make smaller items like jewellery or hair accessories, the cost
of shipping for small items can be a little off-putting as well (I sort of made
up for it at Wicked and Whimsy, but still). That doesn’t, however, mean that I
can’t have favourite indie brands, so here are my top 3.

22 Nov 2016

November can be a bit of a dead
time: Halloween’s over, but it’s too early to start doing too many Christmassy
things (other than shopping – get that done early, save yourself some money and
stress), the weather’s too cold and wet for most outdoors activities, so you
just end up at home with some comfort food and comfy clothes. Other than a
brief fling that is Bonfire Night here in the UK, there doesn’t seem to be much
to look forward to in November. I hoped to change that a little bit by
introducing my comm to Polish Andrzejki (St. Andrew’s celebrations) and I
organised a fortune-telling meet.

For this reason I decided to put
together a fortune teller inspired coord, since as the meet organiser I
considered myself the chief fortune-teller for that day. And I must say I love
how this look came out. Sheherazade
was the only main piece I own which could’ve carried this theme and except for
the scarf I already owned all the pieces which I needed, which was brilliant.
This may be the closest I ever came to a Gothic Lolita look – it’s still not
Gothic, but certainly the darkest and most mysterious coord I’ve done.

For those of you who aren’t
Polish/Eastern European, there is a belief in Poland that the eve of St
Andrew’s (the night from 29th to 30th of November) is a
good time for magic that would either predict or bind a maiden’s future husband
(men do similar things on the eve of St Katherine’s – Katarzynki – which is the
night from 24th to 25th of November). This is when all
kinds of fortune-telling and games take place, ranging from very traditional
and folklore-based to plain silly and intended as a laugh. As a kid in Poland
we’d often spend one day’s form time to do this, causing all kinds of giggles
and disgusted noises when you were predicted to marry someone with the same
name as one of the boys in your class. But this isn’t just something for the
kids, although nowadays it’s definitely taken less seriously than it would’ve
been for example a century ago – you’ll find night clubs using Andrzejki as an
excuse for throwing on a night out, as well as groups of friends casually
organising meet ups and doing some fortune-telling at someone’s home.

I organised the meet with the
intention of being focused around Lolita, rather than any future spouses.
Luckily, most of the games were easy to swap around to incorporate e.g. print
names instead of people’s names. Let me tell you though, when I first
volunteered to organise the meet and then posted up the details, I did not
expect as many positive reactions as I did. They ranged from “cool idea” all
the way to expressions of regret that people won’t be able to make it. It was
both exhilarating and a little daunting: this was the first time I organised a
Lolita meet, so I wanted it to be good, but I tried my best not to give in to
any imagined pressure.

Some of the games I prepared included: stab a heart to findout what print you'll buy next, 5 things in a petagram to summon X and the wax reading.

In the end it all went great:
despite a few last minute drop outs (it’s November, of course people will be
poorly) the meet was well attended and fun. Everyone got on board with the
games I had prepared, although the wax reading was a clear winner, and I think
I hit a good balance between planned activities and down time for casual chat,
eating or taking photos. I must say here, the venue Stew and Oyster exceeded my
expectations: when I checked it out, I got a feel of it being quite laid back
and cosy, but the staff there made us feel very welcome and even separated our
corner of the place with a curtain (later, as it got busier and they needed
that space for other guests, they opened it up, but we still got a good
hour/hour and a half of privacy). The food was lovely too – even though the
meet wasn’t centred around eating, pretty much everyone ordered something and
then complimented on how lovely and reasonably priced it was. If you’re in
Leeds and need a relaxed and quiet place to hang out I’d recommend Stew and
Oyster.

Pouring the wax.Photo by Holly.

Photo by Holly.

Interpreting the shadow cast by the wax.Polish people didn't predict that you couldhave dinosaurs and there was no reading forthem.Photo by Holly.

There was already a big waxy mess on the window sill, we only added ourcreations.Photo by Holly.

Afterwards, when the meet was over,
one of the frillies joined me on the way to Boots. A member on Amino has said
earlier how she found a new makeup brand called Makeup Obsession who let you build
your own makeup palette for very reasonable prices: one pot of eyeshadow at £2
and one pot of blush, highlighter or contouring stuff at £3 is a bargain! They’re
available online, but I wanted to check out the colours in real life first and
since my local Boots didn’t stock their products, I went to Boots in Leeds
Trinity Centre. Without some help from a very lovely member of staff I don’t
think we would’ve found it, I would’ve looked where brands like Maybelline and
L’Oreal are, but this was where the designer fancy stuff was kept. From testing
out the samples, the eyeshadows and the blushes are very pigmented and they’re
quite generous pots too, maybe the size of a 50p coin or thereabouts! It’s a
shame that their eyeshadow colour range didn’t include many pinks though – there
were lots of nudes and some statement colours like blue, black, green or
purple, all available in shimmery or matte versions. But I’m hoping that as
they become more popular they will increase their range of colours on offer. It’s
a great idea as not only you get to pick the colours you know you’re going to
use, but when you run out of one you don’t have to buy a whole palette just to
replace that one shade. If you’re based in the UK, I’d recommend checking them
out. At £2 per eyeshadow and £3 per everything else you could even pick up just
one that you like before committing to building an entire palette.

My custom palette. The blue stands out and bothers me asfar as the aesthetic of this one goes, but I needed all thesecolours.

Overall I’ve had so much fun
organising this meet and everyone who attended made it even more enjoyable.
Having done this I think I caught a bit of a meet organising bug – doing something
for others to enjoy is quite contagious, like giving someone a present that is
just perfect for them. Hopefully I’ll get to organise something again soon. For
now I’m happy to have had this success, as well as plenty of rest afterwards,
and all eyes are on Winter ILD now. I can’t wait!

18 Nov 2016

We’ve finally reached main pieces I
bought this year (in the nick of time too, since it’s November already), as
well as the last Bodyline dress I own. I bought it because I was quite
enamoured by the print, which I felt was different to what Bodyline usually
brings out. Now I feel like it’s a little too similar in theme and colours to Crystal Dream Carnival – and if you
could wear CDC instead, why wouldn’t you? – so I was quite wary of doing looks
that were too similar. However, doing this post revived my appreciation for
this print a little and gave a couple of ways that I could wear it, so
hopefully one of these coords will get worn sometime.

15 Nov 2016

Buying Lolita can often feel like a
race against time, be it during a new release that may sell out in minutes or
when buying second hand and trying to be faster than others with placing that
bid or sending that message. Sometimes it works, but unfortunately a lot of the
times we end up unsuccessful.

11 Nov 2016

Recently I seem to have been the
only one doing the Lolita Blog Carnival topics. Shame, as I do enjoy reading
what other people write on that same subject, but at the same time I enjoy
having these writing prompts there: they motivate me to write something and
help to diversify my content a little. So I’ll keep doing them for as long as I
can and here’s another one for you to enjoy: my autumn/winter aesthetic.

8 Nov 2016

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve been looking
forward to a release (brand or otherwise), admired the print, either saved up
for it or were mentally preparing yourself to spend that kind of money… and
then that release is not quite right? I feel like this is me right now.

4 Nov 2016

Some people know whether they have a
sweet tooth or not – I envy them a little. I tend to follow my cravings and
fancies. One day I scour the cupboards for anything even remotely sweet and on
another I can ignore sweet things in favour of carbs. Having said that, I love sweets
of all shapes and sizes, so it was only fair to take part in this week’s
challenge and create a dessert inspired coord.

1 Nov 2016

First there was Lolita. Then
somewhere along the line Wa Lolita became a thing. Now it appears like Lolitas
everywhere are trying their hand at merging Lolita fashion with the traditional
dress and costumes from their own countries, some with more success than
others.

About me

Cupcake Kamisama – 25-year-old Capricorn, Polish-born, UK-based and in love with Japanese fashion (predominantly Lolita). I enjoy a good bargain, OTT Sweet, cats and baking, and when in Japan I’m a self-confessed purikura addict. When I don’t blog, I work in the education sector, telling teenagers to attend their classes and be nice to people, and sometimes I get to do some exciting freelance translations on the side.

I hope you enjoy my blog and that you stay a little longer. You can also find me on other social media:
Youtube: Cupcake KamisamaAlice Holic: Cupcake Kamisama
Amino: Cupcake Kamisama
Instagram: @cupcake_kamisama